JPH0769598A - Pallet transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform an unmanned alignment work (centering operation) between a pallet and a pallet loading vehicle by providing a body elevator device under a body frame, a movable support jack device for a load-carrying platform on the body frame, and a centering device at both sides of the body frame, respectively. CONSTITUTION:A relative distance between a pallet P and a pallet loading vehicle V is measured with a laser measurement device 18. Also, the vehicle V is guided to enter space under the pallet P. Then, a body elevator device 3 is operated to lift a body frame 1 and a load-carrying platform 2, thereby lifting the pallet P from a floor. Thereafter, a movable support jack device 10 is operated to lift the pallet P and at the same time, the pallet P is held on rollers in such a condition as freely movable along a breadthwise direction. Then, the slide beams of right and left centering devices 50 are concurrently projected toward both sides, and the forward edge of a dolly block pushes the legs 41a and 41b of the pallet P for the lateral motion thereof. Lateral alignment is thereby performed between the pallet P and the vehicle V.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pallet transporting apparatus equipped with a pallet-carrying vehicle for carrying under a pallet having an inverted U-shaped section having legs on both sides and carrying the pallet. The present invention relates to a pallet transfer device that can automatically perform centering between a pallet-mounted vehicle and a pallet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, heavy goods such as steel mills are transported on the premises by semi-trailers, full-trailers or self-propelled vehicles. Is becoming mainstream.

Conventionally, as a transportation system of this type, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-199235, a pallet loading lift frame which is lifted and lowered by a hydraulic cylinder is provided on a carrier truck, and this frame is used as a flat pallet. It has been proposed that the pallet be loaded and transported by inserting it into the stepped portions formed on both sides of the pallet.

Further, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-305047, a special pallet having a leg portion which is expandable and contractible in the width direction and an engaging claw provided on a part of the leg portion is lifted and conveyed. In a pallet-equipped vehicle, a vehicle body frame having wheels, a slide beam having an axially movable pawl and a pallet engaging pawl and a free-fitting pawl fixed to the tip thereof, and a pallet are lifted and movably supported in the width direction. It has been proposed to provide a loading platform including a jack device with rollers and an elevating device that raises the loading platform with respect to a vehicle body frame to lift a pallet.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned prior art has the following problems.

In the prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-199235, it is necessary to insert the lift frame into the step portions formed on both sides of the flat plate type pallet when loading the pallet, so that a slow and careful operation is required. Yes, the presence of a driver is essential. For this reason, it is impossible to unmanner the pallet carrier.

In the prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-305047, a special pallet having leg portions that can be expanded and contracted in the width direction is used, and the body frame and the bed are made to go under the pallet, and the body and the bed are loaded. The centering between the pallet and the pallet is performed automatically. That is, when the pallet is mounted on the loading platform, the pallet is placed with its legs extended, the body frame and the loading platform are submerged inside, and the lifting device is operated to move the pallet through the loading platform. After lifting, the jack device with rollers is operated to further lift the pallet, and this is supported so as to be movable in the width direction, then the slide beam is extended outward in the width direction, and the legs of the pallet are extended at the tips. Push to move the pallet laterally, thereby aligning the pallet with the center of the bed, and then reversely operating the jack device with rollers to lower the pallet.At this time, the claws of the slide beam are engaged with the claws of the pallet. In this state, the slide beam is contracted inward in the width direction to return the legs of the pallet to the original contracted state. Therefore, according to this conventional technique, the pallet loading operation becomes easy, and the possibility of unmanned positioning of the pallet and the loading platform has been opened up. However, this prior art is subject to the use of a special pallet having leg portions that can expand and contract in the width direction, and has a problem that it cannot be applied to a pallet having ordinary fixed leg portions.

An object of the present invention is to perform unmanned positioning between a pallet and a pallet-equipped vehicle when the pallet is loaded on the pallet-equipped vehicle, even if the pallet has a general fixed leg portion. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pallet transfer device that can unmanned the entire system.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a pallet-mounted vehicle for carrying under a pallet having an inverted U-shaped section having legs on both sides and carrying the pallet. In the pallet transport apparatus provided with, the pallet-equipped vehicle includes a vehicle body frame having wheels, a loading platform supported on the vehicle body frame for mounting the pallet, and a vehicle body frame provided at a lower portion of the vehicle body frame with respect to a floor surface. And a movable support jack device that is provided above the vehicle body frame and that supports the load platform and horizontally movably supports the vehicle body frame; and a lateral direction provided on both sides of the vehicle body frame. And a centering device that simultaneously projects outward and contacts the inner surface of the legs of the pallet.

The pallet conveying device preferably detects the relative position between the pallet and the pallet-equipped vehicle, sets an approach path for guiding the pallet-equipped vehicle to the pallet, and guides the pallet-equipped vehicle. A guidance control means is further provided.

Further, in the pallet conveying device, instead of the guidance control means, an approach path for the pallet-equipped vehicle to enter below the pallet is set in advance, and an approach path for the pallet and the pallet-equipped vehicle is set. Guidance control means for detecting an error and guiding the pallet-mounted vehicle so as to match the approach road may be further provided.

As the means for detecting the relative position or approach error, it is preferable to use one using a light beam, a sound wave or an electromagnetic wave. Further, the relative position or approach road error detecting means may be installed either on the pallet-equipped vehicle or on the pallet or on the ground. Further, either image processing or arithmetic processing may be used as the means for detecting the relative position or approach road error.

[0013]

The pallet transporting device of the present invention constructed as described above operates as follows to load a pallet onto a pallet-mounted vehicle. First, the pallet-equipped vehicle is moved under the pallet, and the vehicle body lifting device is operated from this state to raise the vehicle body frame and the cargo bed, thereby lifting the pallet from the floor surface. Furthermore, the movable support jack device is activated to lift the pallet, and the movable support jack device supports the pallet so that it can move in the width direction.In this state, the centering device is projected laterally outward simultaneously, and the pallet legs are By pushing and moving the pallet laterally, the pallet and the pallet-mounted vehicle are laterally centered. After that, the movable support jack device is reversely operated to lower the loading platform and the loading of the pallets is completed.

As described above, according to the present invention, the vehicle body elevating device is provided in the lower portion of the vehicle body frame, the movable support jack device for the loading platform is provided in the upper portion of the vehicle body frame, and the centering device is provided in both side portions of the vehicle body frame. For a normal pallet having parts, it is possible to perform unmanned positioning (centering operation) between the pallet and the vehicle for mounting the pallet. In addition, since the movable support jack device directly contacts the pallet instead of the pallet and movably supports it, the pallet and the pallet move integrally when the pallet laterally moves by the centering device, and the pallet and the pallet are relatively moved. No movement will occur. Therefore, the pallet is prevented from being damaged during the centering operation, and the pallet can be used for a long period of time.

When the pallet-equipped vehicle is moved under the pallet, the guidance control means detects the relative position between the pallet and the pallet-equipped vehicle and sets an approach path for guiding the pallet-equipped vehicle to the pallet. , Make an approach along the set approach path. Alternatively, an approach path through which the pallet-equipped vehicle enters below the pallet is set in advance, position errors with respect to the approach paths of the pallet and the pallet-equipped vehicle are detected, and the approach is performed while correcting the error. As a result, it is possible to unmanned the operation of moving the pallet-mounted vehicle under the pallet.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The pallet carrying apparatus of this embodiment has a pallet mounting vehicle V shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the pallet mounting vehicle V has a top plate 40 and left and right leg portions 41 as shown in FIG.
It has a and 41b, and is for carrying under the pallet P which has a reverse U-shaped cross section for carrying a heavy object, and carries it.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a pallet-mounted vehicle V is, for example, a vehicle body frame 1 to which five wheels 6 are mounted on each of the left and right sides, a total of 10 wheels 6, and a pallet supported on the vehicle body frame 1 and shown in FIG. A loading platform 2 on which P is placed, a vehicle body elevating device 3 provided below the vehicle body frame 1 to raise and lower the vehicle body frame 1 with respect to the floor surface, and provided above the vehicle body frame 1 to lift the loading platform 2 and move it horizontally. And a centering device 50 that is provided on both sides of the body frame 1 and that protrudes laterally outward simultaneously and abuts the inner surfaces of the legs 41a and 41b of the pallet P. ing.

The vehicle body lifting device 3 is installed on each wheel 6. As shown in detail in FIG. 4, this vehicle body lifting device 3
An arm 4 attached to the vehicle body frame 1, an arm 5 having one end connected to the arm 4 via a pin 7 and the other end connected to a wheel 6 via an axle 8, and pivoted to the arm 4 and the arm 5. It is composed of a hydraulic cylinder 9 which is freely connected. The vehicle body elevating / lowering device 3 elevates and lowers the vehicle body frame 1 by expanding and contracting the hydraulic cylinders 9 to load and unload the pallets P.

The movable support jack devices 10 are installed symmetrically at a plurality of locations, for example, four locations on the left and right as shown in FIG. 2, for a total of eight locations. In addition, the movable support jack device 1
In the present embodiment, 0 is configured as a jack device with a roller. That is, as shown in detail in FIG. 5, the movable support jack device 10 is provided with a hydraulic cylinder 11 fixed to the vehicle body frame 1 and movable up and down, and arranged above the hydraulic cylinder 11 along the longitudinal direction of the luggage carrier 2. And a roller 13 rotatably installed on the rotating shaft 12.

The movable support jack device 10 moves the roller 13 upward by operating the hydraulic cylinder 11, and brings the upper end of the roller 13 into contact with the lower surface of the luggage carrier 2.
By further moving it upward to lift the loading platform 2 and supporting the loading platform 2 only by the rollers 13,
This is movably supported in the width direction. In addition,
Instead of the roller 13, a supporting member having a sliding surface having a low friction coefficient may be provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the centering devices 50 are arranged at four locations near the four corners of the body frame 1. As shown in detail in FIG. 6, the centering device 50 includes a slide beam 14 connected to a hydraulic cylinder 15 fixed to the vehicle body frame 1, and a pad rotatably connected to the tip of the slide beam 14 via a pin 16. Money 17
It consists of and.

The centering device 50 operates the hydraulic cylinder 15 to simultaneously project the slide beams 14 to both sides of the vehicle body frame 1 while the loading platform 2 is movably supported in the width direction by the movable support jack device 10. As a result, the tip surface of the pad 17 is brought into contact with the inner surface of at least one of the legs 41a or 41b of the pallet P, and further projected so that the tip surfaces of the left and right pad 17 are the left and right legs 41a of the pallet P. By bringing them into contact with the inner surfaces of 41b, the center of the pallet P is aligned with the center of the vehicle body frame 1, and thereafter, the operation of the movable support jack device 10 is released, and the loading platform 2 on which the pallet P is placed is attached to the vehicle body frame 1. It is to be placed.

Further, the pallet transporting apparatus of this embodiment has a laser measuring device 18 for detecting the relative position between the pallet P and the pallet-equipped vehicle V when the pallet-equipped vehicle V is moved under the pallet P. ing. As shown in detail in FIG. 7, the laser measuring device 18 has a member 20 having one end fixed to the vehicle body frame 1 and the other end supporting the laser oscillation device 19, and a laser beam emitted from the laser oscillation device 19 being constant. It is composed of a laser emitting device 21 that rotates at a speed and a laser light receiving device 22 that detects the laser light reflected by the reflecting mirror Pm (see FIG. 3) of the pallet P.

In the laser measuring device 18, when the irradiation axis of the laser emitted from the laser emitting device 21 rotating at a constant speed reaches a position where it intersects with the reflecting mirror Pm of the pallet P, the laser reflected from the reflecting mirror Pm. Is detected by the laser light receiving device 22, and the laser emitting angle and the light receiving angle at the moment of detection are detected.

FIG. 8 shows a control system of the pallet-mounted vehicle. The controller 60 is mounted on the vehicle body frame 1 and controls the operations of the lifting hydraulic cylinder 9, the jack hydraulic cylinder 11, and the centering hydraulic cylinder 15 described above. Further, the traveling motor 6 is mounted on the body frame 1.
1 and a steering motor 62 are mounted, and their operations are also controlled by the controller 60. Further, the controller 60 operates the laser measuring device 18 as described above, and inputs the laser emitting angle and the light receiving angle as measurement data regarding the relative position between the pallet P and the pallet-equipped vehicle V. The controller 60 calculates and sets the approach road from the measured data, and the traveling motor 61 and the steering motor 6 so that the pallet-equipped vehicle V is guided to the approach road.
Control 2 In this way, the laser measuring device 18 and the controller 60 detect the relative position between the pallet P and the pallet-equipped vehicle V, and set the pallet-equipped vehicle V to the pallet P.
A guidance control device for guiding the pallet-equipped vehicle V by setting an approach route for guiding the vehicle to the pallet is configured. As the relative position detecting means, any of sound waves and electromagnetic waves may be used in addition to the laser light. Further, the relative position detecting means may be installed either on the pallet P or on the ground in addition to the pallet-mounted vehicle V.

Next, the operation sequence of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

First, the pallet-mounted vehicle V is loaded into the pallet P.
When the vehicle V is moved downward, the vehicle V is temporarily stopped, and the laser measuring device 18 measures the relative positions of the pallet P and the pallet-equipped vehicle V as shown in FIG.
At 0, the approach route is calculated based on the measurement data as described above,
The vehicle V is guided, and as shown in FIG.
Get under.

Next, from the state in which the pallet-mounted vehicle V has entered under the pallet P as shown in FIG. 11, the vehicle body lifting device 3 is operated as shown in FIG.
And the loading platform 2 is raised, and thereby the pallet P is lifted from the floor surface.

Further, the movable supporting jack device 10 is operated to lift the pallet P and to rotatably support the pallet P by the rollers 13 in this state.
As shown in FIG. 5, the slide beams 14 of the left and right centering devices 50 are simultaneously projected to the both sides, and the leg portions 41a and 41b of the pallet P are pushed by the tip end surface of the pallet 17 to move the pallet P laterally. The left and right legs 41
The pallet P and the vehicle V are centered in the lateral direction by bringing them into contact with a and 41b, respectively. After that, the movable support jack device 10 is reversely operated to complete loading of the pallets P as shown in FIG.

As described above, in this embodiment, the fixed leg portion 41 is used.
With respect to the normal pallet P provided with a and 41b, the alignment (centering operation) between the pallet P and the pallet-equipped vehicle V can be performed unattended. Further, since the movable support jack device 10 directly contacts the pallet P instead of the pallet P and movably supports the pallet P, the load platform 2 and the pallet P move integrally when the centering device 50 laterally moves the pallet. No relative movement occurs between P and the platform 2. Therefore, the pallet P is prevented from being damaged during the centering operation, and the pallet can be used for a long time. Further, since the guidance control device for the pallet mounting vehicle including the laser measuring device 18 and the controller 60 is provided, the pallet mounting vehicle V is set to the pallet P.
It is possible to perform an unmanned operation to move under.

Next, some other embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
5 to 19 will be described.

FIG. 15 shows another example of the guidance control device for the pallet-mounted vehicle V. In this embodiment, an electromagnet for guiding the vehicle is installed in advance along the pallet transport path R, and the strength of the magnetic force is measured by the measuring devices installed in each of the pallet P and the pallet-equipped vehicle V. This measurement data is sent to the controller as shown in FIG. 8 installed in each of the pallet P and the pallet-equipped vehicle V, and the error between the pallet P and the transport route R of the pallet-equipped vehicle V is calculated. Then, the approach path of the pallet-equipped vehicle V to the pallet P is calculated and guided. Therefore, according to the present embodiment as well, similarly to the above-described embodiment, the operation of causing the pallet-equipped vehicle V to enter under the pallet P can be performed unmanned.

FIG. 16 shows another example of the laser measuring device used in the guidance control device of the pallet-mounted vehicle V. In this embodiment, the laser emitting device 72 and the light receiving device 73 of the laser measuring device 71 are installed on the ground, and the pallet P is used.
Also, reflecting mirrors Pm and Vm are installed on the vehicle V for pallet mounting. The laser emitted from the emitting device 72 is a reflecting mirror P.
The emission angle and the light receiving angle when reflected by m and Vm and detected by the light receiving device 73 are detected. From the measurement result, the positions of the pallet P and the pallet-equipped vehicle are calculated, and the approach road is set and guided.

17 and 18 show an example in which image processing is used as means for detecting relative position or approach road error. A TV camera 80 is mounted on the pallet-mounted vehicle V, and an image processing device processes the image signal of the TV camera 80 to recognize an image S of the pallet P as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the image processing apparatus displays the image S when the pallet is in the regular position.
o is stored in advance, the image So is compared with the image S, and the relative position of the pallet P with respect to the pallet-mounted vehicle V is detected by image analysis. The approach road is calculated from this measurement result, and the pallet-mounted vehicle is guided.

FIG. 19 shows another example of the centering device. The load detection devices 90 are installed near the four corners on the body frame 1 under the platform 2. The loads at the four corners are detected with the pallet P placed on the platform 2. This detection data is sent to the controller as shown in FIG. 8 and the left and right slide beams (not shown) are individually controlled to move the loading platform 2 in the horizontal direction so that the loads at four points are equalized. To do. As a result, the center of gravity of the pallet P can be positioned at the center of the pallet-equipped vehicle V, and stable transportation can be performed.

[0037]

Since the present invention has the above-mentioned structure,
It has the following effects.

1. Since the pallet and the vehicle for mounting the pallet can be aligned (centering operation) unattended with respect to a normal pallet having fixed legs, the entire pallet transport system can be unmanned.

2. Since the center of the pallet and the center of the vehicle for mounting the pallet are conveyed in a state of being coincident with each other, stable traveling can be performed.

3. Since the carrier and the pallet move integrally during the centering operation, the pallet is prevented from being damaged and the pallet can be used for a long time.

4. Since the pallet-mounted vehicle, which is the most difficult to control, can enter the pallet under the pallet, the whole pallet transport system can be easily unmanned.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a pallet-equipped vehicle of a pallet carrier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the pallet-mounted vehicle shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a pallet.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a vehicle body lifting device.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a movable support jack device.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a centering device.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a laser measuring device.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a control system.

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining the operation when the pallet-equipped vehicle enters under the pallet, and shows a state before the pallet-equipped vehicle has entered.

FIG. 10 is a view for explaining the operation when the pallet-equipped vehicle enters under the pallet, and shows a state after the pallet-equipped vehicle has entered.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation when centering the pallet-equipped vehicle and the pallet-equipped vehicle from the state in which the pallet-equipped vehicle has entered the pallet, showing the state immediately after the pallet-equipped vehicle has entered. .

FIG. 12 is a view for explaining the operation when centering the pallet-equipped vehicle with the pallet-equipped vehicle from the state where the pallet-equipped vehicle has entered under the pallet, and shows the state in which the vehicle is lifted.

FIG. 13 is a view for explaining the operation when centering the pallet-mounted vehicle and the pallet from the state where the pallet-mounted vehicle has entered under the pallet, and shows the centering operation.

FIG. 14 is a view for explaining the operation when centering the pallet-mounted vehicle and the pallet from the state where the pallet-mounted vehicle has entered under the pallet, and shows a state after completion of pallet loading.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing another example of a guidance control device for a pallet-mounted vehicle.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing another example of a laser measurement device used in a guidance control device for a pallet-mounted vehicle.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example in which image processing is used as means for detecting relative position or approach road error, and shows a pallet-mounted vehicle equipped with a TV camera.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of using image processing as means for detecting relative position or approach road error, showing an image of a palette.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing another example of the centering device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Body frame 2 ... Luggage platform 3 ... Lifting device 6 ... Wheels 9 ... Vehicle body lifting hydraulic cylinder 10 ... Movable support jack device 11 ... Jack hydraulic cylinder 13 ... Roller 14 ... Slide beam 15 ... Centering hydraulic cylinder 17 ... Pad 18 ... Laser measuring device 19 ... Laser oscillating device 21 ... Laser emitting device 22 ... Laser receiving device 40 ... Top plate 41a, 41b ... Leg part 50 ... Centering device 60 ... Controller 61 ... Traveling motor 62 ... Steering motor 72 ... Laser emitting device 73 ... Laser receiving device 80 ... TV camera 90 ... Load detecting device P ... Pallet V ... Pallet-mounted vehicle Pm ... Reflecting mirror Vm ... Reflecting mirror

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A pallet transporting apparatus including a pallet-equipped vehicle for entering and transporting under a pallet having an inverted U-shaped section having legs on both sides, wherein the pallet-equipped vehicle comprises wheels. A body frame having a body, a loading platform supported on the body frame for mounting the pallet, a body elevating device provided at a lower portion of the body frame to elevate the body frame with respect to a floor surface, and provided at an upper portion of the body frame. And a movable supporting jack device for lifting the loading platform and movably supporting the loading platform in the horizontal direction, and provided on both side portions of the vehicle body frame, projecting laterally outward simultaneously and contacting the inner surface of the leg portion of the pallet. A pallet conveying device comprising a centering device. 2. The pallet-equipped vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a relative position between the pallet and the pallet-equipped vehicle is detected and an approach path for guiding the pallet-equipped vehicle to the pallet is set. A pallet transporting device further comprising a guidance control means for guiding the pallet. 3. The pallet transfer device according to claim 2, wherein a means using any one of a light ray, a sound wave, and an electromagnetic wave is used as the relative position detecting means. 4. The pallet conveyor according to claim 2, wherein the relative position detecting means is installed on either the pallet-mounted vehicle, the pallet, or the ground. 5. The pallet conveyor according to claim 2, wherein either image processing or arithmetic processing is used as the relative position detecting means. 6. The pallet transporting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an approach path for the pallet-equipped vehicle to enter below the pallet is set in advance, and an approach path error between the pallet and the pallet-equipped vehicle is set. A pallet transport apparatus further comprising a guidance control means for detecting and guiding the pallet-equipped vehicle so as to match the approach path. 7. The pallet conveyor according to claim 6, wherein a means using any of a light ray, a sound wave, or an electromagnetic wave is used as the means for detecting the approach path error. 8. The pallet transfer apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the approach error detecting means is installed on the pallet-mounted vehicle or on the pallet or on the ground. . 9. The pallet conveyor according to claim 6, wherein either image processing or arithmetic processing is used as the approach error detecting means.